WS Van Dyke

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Woodbridge Strong Van Dyke II (born March 21, 1889 in San Diego , California , † February 5, 1943 in Brentwood , California) was an American film director .

Life

Van Dyke, the son of a lawyer and a pianist, worked with his mother in various vaudeville theaters after his father's death and had his first leading role at the age of six. After various activities, he came to film in 1915. He had his first jobs at the Essanay studios, where he worked as a screenwriter and assistant director with the then well-known directors Charles Brabin and DW Griffith . He later worked as an assistant director on Griffith's feature film Intolerance .

In 1917 he directed Paramount Pictures for the first time. He quickly gained the reputation of an efficient director with great organizational talent, which earned him the nickname "One Take Woody". That reputation led Irving Thalberg to direct him in 1928 for the South Seas drama White Shadows after director Robert J. Flaherty was fired for going too far on time and on budget. The studio then used Van Dyke often in costly, often problematic productions, which he brought to an end effectively and within the set budget. Better-known films from the period include the adventure flicks Trader Horn , which he filmed on location in Africa, and the musical Cuban Love Song with Lawrence Tibbett and Lupe Vélez , which was characterized by the intelligent way the songs were integrated into the plot.

In 1932 he directed Tarzan, the ape man, with Johnny Weissmüller . He directed his best-known film in 1934 when he used the two actors William Powell and Myrna Loy in the crime comedy The Skinny Man, based on the novella by Dashiell Hammett . The film was a resounding success and Van Dyke was first nominated for an Oscar for best director . He then shot with many of the studio's top stars, including Joan Crawford in Never Marry the First Time , Where Love Falls and Love on the Run, as well as Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy . He directed some of their best films with the popular screen couple MacDonald / Eddy, including Tolle Marietta , Rose-Marie and Sweethearts . Van Dyke was nominated again for an Oscar for best director for San Francisco , which was rented in 1936. At the end of 1937 he managed to bring the production of Marie-Antoinette , which threatened to develop into a financial disaster, to a happy ending. After Norma Shearer had initially vehemently opposed his appeal, Van Dyke finally led her to another Oscar nomination for Best Actress .

In 1939, studio boss Louis B. Mayer gave Van Dyke the thankless task of bringing the production of I Take This Woman with Hedy Lamarr , on which four directors had already tried themselves in the previous 14 months, to a good end. In 1942 he shot his last film Journey for Margeret with child star Margaret O'Brien . A few months after its premiere, he died of a heart attack at the age of 53. From 1935 until his death he was married to Ruth Mannix, with whom he had three children.

Filmography (selection)

Awards

Oscar / Best Director

literature

  • Hervé Dumont : WS Van Dyke . Edition Anthologie du cinéma, Paris 1973.
  • Rudy Behlmer (Ed.): WS Van Dyke's journal "White shadows in the South Seas" (1927-1928) and other Van Dyke on Van Dyke . Filmmakers, No. 46.Scarecrow Press, Lanham (Md.) 1996, 135 (XII) S., ISBN 0-8108-3028-0 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Van Dyke, WS
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Van Dyke II, Woodbridge Strong (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American film director
DATE OF BIRTH March 21, 1889
PLACE OF BIRTH San Diego , California , USA
DATE OF DEATH February 5, 1943
Place of death Brentwood , California, USA